Getting back on the wagon
by Acquired-Insanity
Summary: Percy and Annabeth have made it through Tartarus, but their troubles seem to have followed them. They really just want some time alone together, but the romans and campers need someone to stop them from fighting and Gaea is still waking up. Mark of Athena spoilers. Fluff with some angst. Percabeth and a little Frazel and Jasper.
1. BATTLE CRAZE

**Authors note: A percabeth centric story WARNING! MOA spoilers DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU'VE READ MOA**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Percy Jackson series**

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CHAPTER ONE: BATTLE CRAZE

Chaos was raging all over the house. Hazel and Piper were back to back, fending off some Empousa. Jason and Leo were both running, slashing at an army of hellhounds. They were fighting the Empousa, but Hazel and Piper pulled them away when they began to fall to the Empousa's charm. Nico and Frank were desperately trying to figure out how to close the door. The door was nothing special, just a regular black door. It looked like it was made of wood, but Nico and Frank knew it wasn't. They had tried everything, cutting it, burning it; Frank even tried to pummel it while he was in the form of a giant grizzly. The door remained unchanged, a black wooden door just slightly open. It wasn't even open all the way. Jason and Leo ran up behind them but turned to fight off some telekhines.

"Any luck?" Jason asked as he sliced a telekhine's nose.

"No." Nico said pulling out his sword. "You two should have a look at it. Maybe you can figure it out." Frank nodded and transformed into a dragon. Leo examined the structural makeup of the door. It really was built like a regular door. Jason shot Leo a grave look.

"You don't think that maybe Percy and Annabeth-." Leo shook his head.

"Hazel said she could feel that they were still alive." Jason looked at the floor.

"Maybe they're still alive- which seems impossible after all this time, but that doesn't mean they've made it to the doors yet. The doors have to be closed at both sides, so maybe we can't close our side till they close theirs." Leo sighed. He had already thought of that.

"We still have to try." Before Jason could answer, the door blew open, and someone stepped out.

"What the…" Jason muttered. Percy was standing there, holding Annabeth in his arms, panting heavily and covered in cuts and bruises. The door shut quietly behind him. The whole room went quiet for a moment. Then all the monsters gathered there let out a collective battle cry and rushed toward the door. Jason and Leo joined the fray, fighting on either side of Percy. Percy made no attempt to help. The trio cut through monsters until they reached Nico and Frank. Nico raised a small army of skeletal warriors, but a huge cloud of metal birds was keeping them occupied. Six or seven hellhounds were biting at Frank, who was blowing fire at them. His huge spiked tail swung around dangerously and turned two of them to monster dust. Percy dodged Frank's tail with a little difficulty. As he stumbled backwards, a gryphon plucked Annabeth from his arms.

One of the Telekhines barked out; "Stop or we'll tear her to pieces!" Percy didn't hesitate for a moment. Riptide was unsheathed in a flash and cutting through the gryphon in the next second. Annabeth began to fall, but Percy caught her, dropping Riptide in the process.

"We have to get out of here!" Piper screamed from a little ways away. Frank ploughed through monsters until the group was reunited. Hazel's stomach was bleeding a great deal, and Piper had a gash running down both arms. The exit was only twenty feet away, but there was no way they could make it. Frank was reaching his limit; a hellhound had finally succeeded and ripped some of his neck scales off. Nico looked almost dead himself he had raised so many skeletons. Jason had a nasty cut on his back and Leo was limping. An Empousa leapt towards Piper. Piper tried to cut through the Empousa with her knife, but she was just a little too slow, and the Empousa nearly melted her face off. Jason summoned a powerful wind and put the Empousa's fire out. Piper jumped away. Percy took a deep breath.

"Jason… hold Annabeth for me… will you?" Jason nodded, a little confused.

"Sure… but what are you going to do?"

"Just stay close okay?" Everyone nodded. Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket and unsheathed the sword. He shut his eyes. Percy moved with incredible speed. He slashed and swung his sword turning a monster into dust with every slice. The group of demigods followed closely behind him as he cut a way to the door. Once free of the house, Percy capped Riptide and ran for the Argo II.

"Percy how in the hell did you do that?" Piper asked.

"I learned how to fight in the dark. That's all." Percy replied curtly. Everyone was on the boat in a matter of seconds; even Leo with his injured leg.. Leo did some speed piloting and got them in the air. They flew over the camp halfblood and roman armies, fighting side by side, in attempt to stop anymore monsters from getting to the house. It was hard to say which side was winning, but when the armies saw the Argo II they cheered and fought harder, surging against the monsters ranks. Their new found hope would hopefully be enough to turn the tides. The group watched as the house of hades disappeared from view.

Jason gently placed Annabeth on her bed. Percy knelt down beside her.

"What's wrong with her?" Piper asked. Percy carefully revealed her ankle. It looked terribly infected. Black and blue bruises started at her ankle and wrapped around her leg all the way up to her knee.

"I'll go grab some nectar!" Jason said and tried to leave the room.

"No!" Percy grabbed his arm.

"What? Percy what are you…"

Piper quickly interrupted Jason with a little bit of charmspeak in her voice. "Percy, nectar might save Annabeth. You need to let Jason give it to her so she'll get better." Percy nodded and his grip on Jason's arm slacked. Jason ran off. Jason returned with some nectar and handed it to Percy. Percy glared at the small bottle of liquid. "Come on Percy… you want Annabeth to get better, don't you?" Piper felt like she was talking to a defensive animal she had to calm. Percy sighed but complied. He tilted Annabeth's head with one hand and gently poured some nectar into her mouth with the other. He gave her a ridiculously tiny amount. Some colour returned to her face. Her eyelids fluttered.

"Percy?" Her voice sounded scratchy.

"Annabeth I'm right here." He said quickly, sounding relieved.

"I can handle a little more seaweed brain." Percy got a nervous look on his face.

"But last time-."

"Percy give me that bottle." Annabeth snatched the bottle out of his hands and took another sip, then another. She moved to get up, but squeaked in pain. She settled back into the bed. "Did we-."

"Yeah."

"And everyone-."

"Yeah."

Annabeth smiled and shut her eyes. Jason and Piper watched the couple's exchange silently. Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand as soon as he thought she was asleep.

"Go get some rest seaweed brain." Annabeth muttered, her eyes still shut.

"I will." Percy promised. Jason and Piper edged out of the room, feeling like they were intruding. In the hallway Piper tried to think of the right thing to say. Her and Jason hadn't been on the best of terms recently.

"Thanks for saving me back there." Piper couldn't look him in the eye. Jason examined his hands.

"Um… it was just, I was just…" He didn't finish his sentence. The pair stood in awkward silence before Leo burst into the hallway.

"How's Annabeth?"

Piper shifted away from Jason before answering. "I think she's going to be okay. She was conscious for a bit." Leo smiled.

"I can't believe we all made it out alive! Gotta wonder how they closed the doors without getting stuck inside though." Leo smirked. "Ah well. Are you guys alright?" Piper glared at Leo. Yes, Jason and her had been arguing and avoiding each other but they hadn't mentioned it to the others.

"Yeah I drank some nectar, and that cut on my back is practically gone." Jason replied. Piper blushed when she realized what Leo had really been asking. Her own arms were fine, they were no longer bleeding but she could use a bandage.

"I'm fine. We should go above deck and let those two rest." Percy was still in Annabeth's room, but he had promised Annabeth he would sleep.

Percy sat in the plastic chair beside Annabeth's bed for ages. It was well into the night when Annabeth woke up again. She seemed a little delirious.

"Percy I'm cold." She whined. Percy sprung to his feet. He searched through all the cabinets in her room but none of them held blankets. He moved to look for some out side of her room, but Annabeth whimpered.

"Don't leave me alone." Percy opened his mouth to protest, but Annabeth had tears in her eyes.

"Okay. I can't find any blankets though." Annabeth smiled.

"That's okay. Come here." She held her arms out for a hug. Percy stared at her for a moment before complying. He slipped out of his shoes and hugged her on the bed. She pressed her head into his warm chest. Percy started to say something, but she was already asleep again. Percy finally closed his own eyes and quickly fell asleep in her arms.

The next morning Piper went to check on Annabeth. When she found the couple fast asleep in each other's arms, she didn't have the heart to wake them up. A little spark of jealousy travelled up her spine. She ignored it. She left them alone and returned to the deck of the ship. Hours later they still weren't awake, and coach, who was unconscious for the whole battle and in a foul mood, went to wake up Percy. When Percy wasn't in his bed, coach ran into Annabeth's room.

"WHAT DID I SAY TO YOU TWO? I TOLD YOU WERE GROUNDED! NO SLEEPING IN THE SAME BED! THIS IS TWO STRIKES!" Percy jolted awake and uncapped Riptide when he heard the coach screaming, but quickly sheathed his sword when he realized his surroundings. Annabeth remained asleep.

"Sorry coach." Percy said quietly, but a tiny smile was playing on his lips.

"Hmph. Better be sorry." Coach crossed his arms and tried to look condescending, which is hard when you're a goat man in a yellow jumpsuit. Percy tried to wake up Annabeth, but she wouldn't respond to anything. He pulled the covers away from her ankle. Her ankle looked exactly the same as it did yesterday, maybe a little worse. Percy began to shake.

"The nectar didn't help." Hazel muttered from the doorway. Everyone was crowded outside, their faces all matching masks of worry. Percy was chanting no under his breath over and over. He placed a hand on Annabeth's face.

"Please Annabeth. Please wake up. Wake up!" He looked close to tears. Percy wasn't one to cry, but everyone could see he might any second. Suddenly his face went blank. "I want to try something." He said quietly. . He shut his eyes and focused on something deep within him. The pull of the ocean. In Tartarus, the feeling was barely there, extremely weak and hard to use. Now, with the ocean so close, Percy found the pull easily. He tried to coax a tiny amount of water, but he wasn't used to having such a strong pull, and water crashed out of him, filling Annabeth's room.

"What are you doing Percy?!" Someone yelled as his or her mouth filled with water. Percy ignored them and tried to focus again. This time he imagined a stream, a very small stream, and tried to channel it toward Annabeth. Amazingly the water obeyed him, and he guided it to Annabeth's ankle. He shut his eyes again and remembered how it felt to be healed by the water. He remembered when he was a lot younger; before he knew who his father was, in camp halfblood when he was playing capture the flag. He remembered how refreshing the water felt on his wounds. He thought about the exact moment his cuts healed. Percy slowly opened his eyes. He laughed with relief as Annabeth's ankle healed. He started to suck the water back into himself, but passed out before he could empty the room of water. Everyone was speechless, and wet. Coach picked up Percy and lugged him into his own room. Jason moved Annabeth out of her sopping wet room and placed her in his own dry bed. The rest of the demigods met above deck in the hopes that the wind would dry them off.

"I didn't know Percy could do that." Frank said, wonder lacing his voice.

"I don't think Percy knew that he could do that either." Nico said, staring out at the clouds. Nico shook his head in disbelief. "Those two… I can't believe they made it out of Tartarus after three months. I just hope they're really okay as they seem."

"What do you mean Nico?" Hazel asked quietly.

"I mean, maybe they got out physically, but I'm not sure if they are alright mentally." Nico shivered, remembering his own time down in Tartarus. "You can't just brush off three months of… _that_. Not even those two."

Frank shrugged. "They seemed fine to me."

"I hope so. I really do." Nico said darkly.

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**To be continued. Leave a review? They really motivate me! Also constructive criticism is appreciated. **


	2. MOTHER DAUGHTER ISSUES

**Hello again. I got this chapter up relatively fast, but don't expect me to update this fast all the time. **

**Disclaimer: I have never written an actual book before, so naturally I don't own Percy Jackson.**

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CHAPTER TWO: MOTHER DAUGHTER ISSUES

Percy woke up screaming Annabeth's name. In his dream they were in Tartarus again, and when he didn't feel her next to him, he panicked and woke up. He simply sat in his bed panting for a moment, while his heart slowed to its regular beat. He stumbled out of his room, blinking at the light shining through the hallway windows. Sunlight still felt alien to him. Annabeth ran down the stairs and nearly ran into him.

"Percy! You're awake! I thought I heard you…."

"Yeah sorry about that I just got so used… used to…" Percy didn't know how to describe it. Sleeping with her? That did not sound right.

"I know what you mean." Annabeth muttered.

"So how long was I out?"

"A day and a half sleepy head." She poked him in the stomach playfully. "C'mon everyone wants to talk with us." She continued, pulling his hand. Percy allowed himself to be dragged to the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around the table, silently. The first thing he noticed was the awkwardness in the air. Frank and Leo were sitting across from each other and trying to look anywhere but at the other; Hazel (who was sitting beside Frank) was trying to stare both of them into talking. Nico was sitting beside Leo and watching the exchange between the three of them looking slightly amused. Percy had known for a while that something was going on there, but it seemed worse between the three. Piper and Jason were glaring at each other from across the table. Annabeth cheerily sat down beside Hazel and Percy sat beside her, their hands still linked.

"Leo I believe you had a question for Percy?" Annabeth asked with a sickly sweet voice Percy flinched at the sound of. Obviously Leo had pissed her off in some way while Percy had been sleeping. Leo ignored Annabeth and turned to Percy.

"How did you get out of there? And close the doors? I would have asked Annabeth- actually, I did, but she told me she 'didn't want to worry about that until you woke u-."

"I was a little worried about Percy. That's all." Annabeth grunted, glaring at Leo.

"You could have told us something! Anything! Did you even properly close the doors? What are we facing here?"

"Leo shut up." Nico spoke up. Nico understood why Annabeth didn't want to remember Tartarus alone. Having someone there to lean on for support probably made the memories easier to face. Leo rolled his eyes, but he looked more annoyed with himself than anyone else.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just a little curious. Percy, care to explain?"

Percy really didn't want to remember Tartarus either. Annabeth tightened her grip on his hand. He shot her a smile of gratitude. They both took a deep breath and remembered every gruesome detail of closing the doors of death. They explained as they remembered.

* * *

_They stumbled forward, a strange light up ahead. After wandering through darkness for so long, Percy thought the light was his eye's playing tricks on him. He didn't think it was actually there until Annabeth mentioned it to him. _

_ "You see that too right?" _

_ "Yeah. What do you think it is?" Annabeth snorted. _

_ "Probably something that wants to kill us." They had tried to stay positive, but wandering in complete darkness whilst being attacked from all sides made that difficult for them sometimes. Percy didn't think it was a monster. They hadn't come across any monsters that gave off light, and they had come across a lot of monsters. Actually, the only light they had seen for a wile now was a guy who was chained to a burning wheel. His name was Ixion according to Annabeth. He had been creepy; when Percy and Annabeth tried to talk to him all he did was ogle Annabeth and try to grab at her. _

_ "Everything wants to kill us Annabeth. We should check it out." Annabeth nodded begrudgingly. They made their way toward the light and only had to fight off one giant before they got close enough to see what it was. _

_ "No way." Percy said in disbelief. At first it looked like a mound of monsters, but when they looked closer, they realized what they were really looking at. The monsters were all swarming around a huge door._

_ "We made it." Annabeth said slowly. Then, faster and more excited; "We've made it Seaweed brain!" She kissed him out of pure joy. Percy laughed and hugged her tightly._

_ "Now we just have to slam the door on these monsters." Percy said quietly. He hated to ruin the first good moment they'd had in Tartarus, but they hadn't quite gotten out of the hellhole. Annabeth took a deep breath. They had no clue how to shut the door; in fact, they weren't even sure how to get near the door without being stomped on by the thousands of monsters that were rushing the door. This may have been the toughest challenge they'd had to face so far, but now Annabeth had hope. Just seeing that tiny flame rekindled in her eyes made Percy more determined to get them out of there very much alive. He admired her fighting spirit and recently he had noticed that quality draining out of her. _

_ "Any plans wise girl?" Annabeth didn't respond, her eye's working over the door, the monsters, everything. Percy simply watched her calculating. There hadn't been any light to look at her by for ages, sure, he would brush his fingers across her face just to be sure she was still there, but he missed seeing the grey of her eyes, and the pinkness of her lips. _

_ "Maybe we can start a distraction and run for it?" She said a little hopelessly._

_ "What?" Percy asked, snapping back to attention. _

_ Annabeth sighed. "Nothing. It's impossible anyway." Percy frowned. _

_ "Should we get closer?" He asked rather unhelpfully. Annabeth shrugged. She tried to walk forward, but something got a hold of her ankle and held her in place. She screamed, tears in her eyes. The ground itself had wrapped itself around her only sort-of healed ankle. Percy tried to cut the ground away, but it held fast. _

_ "Percy I think…. I think… if you pull I'll be able get it free." She looked terrified. Pulling her ankle out of the earth's steely grasp would probably re-brake it._

_ "But your ankle-"_

_ "Will have to heal one more time." Annabeth said, gritting her teeth. _

_ "But Annabeth-." _

_ "Percy just do it!" She begged, and Percy knew it was the only way. He gulped, but grabbed her shoulders._

_ "On three." He whispered. She nodded. "One, one and one half, two,"_

_ "Percy!" She screeched. He pulled her up from her shoulders. With a terrible crack he pulled her free. She screamed again, and Percy looked around to see if any monsters had noticed them. The monsters were all too focused on climbing on top of each other to get closer to the door. Annabeth passed out for a moment, but came to after a few seconds. _

_ "We have to keep moving." She put on a brave face, but Percy could see her ankle was a strange blackish colour, even in the dim light. She tried to step forward and fell over immediately. Percy caught her._

_ "Damn this ankle!" She muttered and leaned on him. They shuffled closed to the giant door, Annabeth leaning on Percy. When they were close enough to make out every ugly detail of the monsters faces, they stopped again. The door looked even bigger closer up. Annabeth still didn't have a single idea, and was fading in and out of consciousness. A ghost appeared in front of them, simply floating out of the ground. Percy nearly chopped its head off. _

_ "Wait Perseus Jackson!" Percy hesitated. Just because the ghost knew his name didn't mean it was friendly, but it might mean it knew something. _

_ "What?" Percy growled._

_ "It's natural you don't recognize me." _

_ "Who?"_

_ The ghost, who must have been a thirty something guy with short, military cut hair, flung his arms up dramatically. "It's me Persephone, here to save the day." _

_ Percy blinked in confusion. "What?" The ghost rolled its eyes. _

_ "Look hero, I'm using this ghost. I'll get this dunce to shut the doors, and you and your girlfriend can escape." Percy stared at the goddess/ military officer with his mouth wide open._

_ "What's the catch?" Annabeth asked suspiciously. Percy jumped. He thought she had passed out. _

_ "The two of you owe me one small favour." _

_ "Naturally." Percy rolled his eyes. _

_ "What's the favour?" Annabeth asked, narrowing her eyes._

_ "Oh you know, mother daughter problems. You understand." Annabeth glared at the ghost. She respected her mother, and really hated it when people degraded her._

_ "So what exactly is wrong with your mother?" Percy asked quickly, knowing that the conversation could turn ugly fast. Persephone sniffed._

_ "She's acting strange. I think Gaea is affecting her."_

_ "Maybe she's just having trouble with being Demeter and her Roman counterpart." Percy said._

_ "Come to think of it… why aren't you affected?" Annabeth asked, still glaring at the goddess._

_ "My Roman side is so alike my Greek one I hardly ever feel any different. My mother is the same way, so I don't understand why she is acting so strangely."_

_ "What do you want us to do about it?" Annabeth asked grumpily._

_ "Check up on her. Figure out if Gaea has anything to do with it."_

_ "We can do that." Percy saw this as their first break since falling in the hellhole. _

_ "Okay but one more question... why us? Why not grab some demigods that are, oh you know, in the living world?" Annabeth asked, waving her hand around for emphasis. The goddess huffed angrily. _

_ "I have a few reasons dearie. One, Percy has proven to be quite capable when it comes to jobs, and two, I can't really ask anyone from the living world, because I'm trapped down here, remember?" The military officer crossed his arms, annoyed. Annabeth shook her head. _

_ "That means it's winter… we've been down here for months!" This came as a shock to Percy as well it was hard to tell time passing in complete darkness. The military officer clapped his hands._

_ "Right! So, you two go hide over here, and I'll just-." The ghost sunk back into the ground. Suddenly hundreds of ghosts popped out of the ground like popcorn. The ground around the door started to rumble, and the mound of monsters began to collapse. The monsters turned on the ghosts, and the two armies started to fight each other. Percy and Annabeth saw their chance, and made a run (Perhaps more of a wobble) For the door. About half way there Annabeth passed out and Percy scooped her up. Thankfully the ghosts were surrounding them, protecting them from the many monsters. The door was wide open, and white light was shining through it. Obviously it was the source of the light. Percy pushed his way through the light and found himself in a house, with Jason staring at him with disbelief._

* * *

"… And that's it." Percy finished. They left out any kissing and Percy definitely didn't mention his thoughts about Annabeth (He never mentioned them to Annabeth either). No one had time to make any comments. Coach Hedge burst into the kitchen.

"Uh. We might have a small problem." Leo shot the goat-man a glare.

"My poor ship. What now?" Leo had asked Coach Hedge to fly the ship for an hour, just so he could eat some breakfast. He should have known better than to trust the idiot.

"There were some clouds just begging to be fired at, so I shot them with the canon's to protect our pride, but the canon ball went a little off course and hit Peleus. He seemed a little angry."

"I wonder why." Leo muttered. "Alright I'm coming. He isn't attacking the ship is he?"

"Well he totally overreacted!" The coach whined. Leo groaned.

"I left you to pilot the ship for onE HOUR!"

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**Feel free to tell me if I got anything wrong like names, or places… **


	3. HOME IS WHERE THE TOLIET IS

**Still don't own book blah blah blah. **

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CHAPTER THREE: HOME IS WHERE THE TOLIET IS

After Leo calmed down the grumpy guard-dragon, the Argo II finally landed in camp Halfblood. As the seven got out, they were a little spooked. No one was there. They all cautiously got off the ship and agreed to split up to look for the one person they knew had stayed behind.

"Chiron? Chiron?!" The camp remained eerily silent. Leo checked the big house, and found the silent house creepy for the first time in his life. Hazel wandered in behind him. Leo tensed up. The two of them hadn't been alone together since… Leo preferred not to think about that. Hazel stood behind him awkwardly. Obviously she wanted to say something. Her hands twisted nervously at her stomach. Leo couldn't take the silence anymore. Maybe dead girl was used to it, but he hated it.

"What?" He asked, perhaps a little harshly. He had convinced himself that he forgiven her, but he realized that he hadn't really. Hazel flinched at his tone.

"I told you I was sorry Leo." She looked at the ground. Leo took the chance to look at her. Her cinnamon hair caught his eye again, and he hated himself for even thinking about it.

"I know." Leo really wished this conversation didn't have to happen.

Hazel bit her lip. "Frank is still mad at me…" Leo believed that. Frank was mad at him too. It wasn't his fault though. It never was. Stupid Amor. He cursed the god for the thousandth time that day.

"Hazel don't worry. I'm not mad you or anything. You were just being honest. That's all."

"No Leo-."

"No sign of him here either?" Jason asked, striding in the room with his golden hair and pretty boy face. Sometimes Leo was just a bit jealous of his best friend. He got to be macho looking and awesome with a sword, plus he had a great girlfriend.

"Nope." Jason looked worried.

"This is bad. I hope nothing happened to him. Maybe monsters attacked and he couldn't fight them off alone… we should've known better than to leave him here alone!" Jason examined Hazels face, and then Leo's. He finally seemed to catch on to the atmosphere. "Was I interrupting something?"

Frank walked in, and Hazel quickly said; "No, no! We were just looking!" Frank rolled his eyes and looked anywhere but at the two of them. Chiron clopped into the room shortly thereafter, looking slightly caught off guard.

"Chiron!" four demigods chimed at once.

"Sorry were you looking for me? I was just using the bathroom." Leo paused and wondered where exactly Chiron went to the bathroom, being half horse, but quickly shoved the thought aside.

"Chiron they're here." Jason said quietly. His expression visibly brightened. Chiron's two favourite students were alive and free.

"Where?" He didn't wait for an answer- he galloped out of the house and began to frantically search.

* * *

Percy and Annabeth weren't too worried about Chiron. When Piper had suggested they split up and look for him Percy had spotted him heading for the bathroom immediately, but decided not to mention it. Instead, he grabbed Annabeth's hand and pulled her into the strawberry fields. They lay in silence, simply relaxing in the sun, absorbing its warmth and appreciating the brightness of the strawberries around them. Percy twisted a strand of Annabeth's hair around his finger. He always loved her princess curls. Now her hair felt thin, but that was okay with him. Annabeth shut her eyes and leaned into his touch.

"What do you think Persephone wants us to do about Demeter?" Percy asked suddenly. Annabeth frowned.

"Shut up seaweed brain." She rolled on to her stomach and stared at him with unreadable grey eyes. "No monster talk."

"But we're not prepared-." Annabeth kissed him, and he lost his train of thought. When she pulled away, she rested her head on his chest.

"Talk about anything else. Anything." Percy smiled at the top of her head.

"What do you want to talk about Wise girl?"

"What about what you used to whisper in my ear before I fell asleep?" Percy pulled her away so he could see her face. She was smirking. "Did you think I was asleep?"

"Well you never answered me so… what was I supposed to think?" Percy's palms became very sweaty. Every time it was Annabeth's turn to sleep Percy would wait until she was 'asleep' and he would whisper everything he could see in their future if they got out of there. He would say it mainly to himself, to remind himself that he had to get out of there. He told her about all of his ideas; The Roman camp, going to college like the everyday teenager, eventually marrying Annabeth after a probably incredibly awesome proposal, and finally having kids. He always found himself stuck on everything before kids. That seemed like an impossible thing to him as a teenager. Once he whispered that it wouldn't matter if it was a girl or a boy because they would be awesome either way. He blushed. Annabeth was not supposed to hear all that. "Okay so what- what do you think?" Percy asked nervously. He waited for Annabeth to laugh at him or mock him for being a sap. Instead she grabbed his hand.

"Are you kidding me? Of course I want to!" She stared at his hand and started to draw circles with her fingers.

"I love you." He said dumbly, like the thought had just busted out of his mouth. His face was so shocked looking Annabeth couldn't help but shove a strawberry in his slightly open mouth. His eyes bulged.

"I already knew that Seaweed brain." She said between laughs.

"You two look fine…" Chiron muttered.

"Chiron!" Percy spat out the strawberry in his mouth and faked surprise. Chiron was lying. _Fine_. The two demigods in front of him looked sickly. They both had dark circles under their eyes and looked closer to skeletons than people. It pained the old mentor to see his students in such bad shape. Still, they were laughing and he took that as a good sign.

Loud arguing could be heard from somewhere far away. Chiron sighed.

"I guess they're back."

* * *

"If you try to go that again, I will slit your throat in your sleep!" A random Roman girl was screaming at Connor Stoll. He was laughing, but there was a tiny flash of fear on his face.

"MY SPEAR IS OBVIOUSLY SUPERIOR!" Clarisse and a very tall Roman boy were comparing spears, and for once, Chris seemed just as battlethristy as Clarisse. The boy did have very muscular arms. (Probably from all the spear throwing). Reyna was glaring at Octavian who was smirking at the whole thing.

"Everyone calm down, calm down." Chiron tried to quell the arguing halfbloods, and the kids from camp quieted down for a moment, but the romans did not, and the campers kept on arguing with them.

"Everyone shut up!" Percy walked out from behind Chiron. He looked like he was about to explode. "Is this what Annabeth and I almost died for?!" He glowered at all the halfbloods, daring them to speak. Everyone was silent. "Everyone needs to shut up and listen. This isn't over yet. Gaea can still be awoken. The prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet. We have only managed to get right back to where we started. We solved one thing! Annabeth sacrificed everything for that stupid statue so you idiots could stop fighting, and now you're just going to ignore her efforts? We're screwed if we don't stop fighting each other!" No one made a sound. They couldn't exactly argue with Percy. He had just come out of Tartarus after all. Plus, he was right and they knew it. Annabeth stepped forward before Percy blew his top.

"We need to find Demeter- Ceres. Persephone told us something was going on with her."

"I'm going to assume you mean the seven by 'we'." Octavian drawled. Annabeth really hated Octavian sometimes. Scratch that- most times. She didn't understand why he kept being so difficult. He had lost; the Romans and Greeks were working together.

"I'm not sure if this is part of the prophecy, but probably. We still don't know where Demeter is. Actually I was going to ask- any children of Demeter or Ceres got anything? Dreams or feelings or a message, a sense?" Nobody spoke up. Katie stepped forward.

"Sorry Annabeth no one's heard from mother in, well, since Percy disappeared." Annabeth nodded, she knew it was a long shot. She hated to ask him for anything, but she knew it had to be done. With gritted teeth she asked, "Octavian, you want to rip up some teddy bears and see if you can dig up anything?" Octavian didn't respond. He looked at Reyna and she nodded her approval. Octavian didn't look happy about it but he wandered away muttering something about ancient curses, so Annabeth figured he was giving it his best shot. She whirled around, pointed a finger at Katie and spoke in her most commando voice. "You, Demeter and Ceres halfbloods, try talking to the plants, or whatever you call it. Check up on them. If Demeter's out of business, who knows how the plants will be affected." Katie saluted with a half-smile on her face and led all the known children of Demeter and Ceres into the forest.

"We're going to have to figure out where everyone will sleep. Obviously the Roman campers will be staying here for at least one night." Chiron and Reyna walked away to discuss sleeping arrangements. Clarisse stomped off to her cabin and Chris pulled the spear guy towards the sword fighting space. Chris seemed fine with the guy when Clarisse wasn't around. Everybody slowly started to drift away, except now they were talking in calm voices and the Romans and Greeks appeared to be mixing. The seven all sat down on the big house's steps.

"Crazy day." Leo muttered.

"Understatement." Piper agreed. "How are you guys- I mean really." Piper stared at Percy and Annabeth. Her and Annabeth had gotten kinda close during the eighth months Percy wasn't there, and although she hadn't known Percy for very long she still feel quite close to him. They had shared quite a few near death experiences together. From Piper's experience, that tended to draw people closer.

"We're fine." Annabeth said. Piper almost believed her. The dark circles under Annabeth's eyes and ribs poking out of her stomach proved otherwise.

"How did you not starve?" Frank asked.

"In Tartarus you don't _need _food. If you did, all the monsters down there would die over and over again without even being tortured. You don't need food, but you still feel hungry and lose weight, except very slowly." Annabeth explained tiredly.

"What about sleep?" Hazel asked curiously. In the field of Asphodel Hazel didn't need sleep but she didn't get hungry either.

"You don't need sleep but if you don't your head gets fuzzy and you move slow. Sleep definitely helps." Percy said.

"Yeah moving too slow will get you killed." Annabeth agreed. Nobody really knew what to say to that.

The sun was only just beginning to set when Piper and Frank stood up simultaneously.

"I've got to get some rest after today." Piper walked off to her cabin, undoubtedly to yell at Drew.

"Me too." Frank started to walk off.

"Frank wait." Hazel got up and trailed behind him. Jason and Leo seemed to realize they were sort of unwanted.

"I should go fix stuff…" Leo grabbed Jason by the arm and pulled him away. Annabeth smiled at her friend's efforts to give Percy and herself some time alone.

"Do you really think that?" Percy asked quietly.

"What?"

"That we're okay? I don't always feel okay."

Annabeth grabbed his hand. "Me neither."

"I mean sometimes I just can't move and the sounds-." He stopped. They had heard so much screaming in Tartarus. It was the constant background sound of the place. You got used to hearing it all the time. The world sounded really quiet now.

"Hey." Katie ran up to them.

"Did you find anything?" Annabeth asked hopefully. She could use some good news right about then.

"Sort of. We got in contact with… I think he said his name was Bacchus, but he also keeps referring to himself as Mr. D so, I'm not sure which one we're dealing with." Percy rolled his eyes and groaned.

"Just what we need the most useless-."

"Pepper Jamieson I can hear you!"

"Yeah that was Mr. D."

* * *

**Again, please correct me if I messed anything up. **


End file.
